Silent Screams
by Guenivere Chasidy
Summary: Zuko visits Azula in the mental institute for the first........and last time.


**FROM THE AUTHOR: This is a little idea that I had since I witnessed Azula lose her mind in the Finale. I thought there was just something artistically beautiful about her when she went insane. This is a little story about Zuko going to visit her in the institute. Please tell me what you think. What are your favorite lines from this? I like a few personally. REVIEW!!**

**Disclaimer: Come on people……………no. Don't sue me. I don't have any money anyway.**

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-Fire Nation Mental Health Facility-

I never thought that I would be visiting her in a place like this. A high-security prison maybe, but an asylum? Never. Azula would be too stubborn to even allow herself to go insane. But nevertheless, here I am. The crowned Fire Lord visiting his sister in a mental institute.

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I would really have never come to visit her. The mere sight of her could force me to do several different things, none of which would be a help to her mental state. So, you could imagine the pure and sheer surprise I felt when I received a letter from one of her caretakers.

Apparently, she was asking for me. Me, of all the god-forsaken people on the entire planet. She just had to ask for me. I was just surprised that she could stop screaming and blowing fire long enough to inquire about someone. I was more surprised that she would even stoop to the level of asking for visitors. Especially someone like me. We obviously didn't have an awesome relationship.

It took me an entire month to respond to the letter. I really didn't want to see her. But another letter arrived. It stated in the simplest way possible that my oh-so beloved sister just wouldn't stop asking for me. Obviously she was beginning to piss off the people responsible for her. How could I deny her my ONE visit any longer?

Just walking through the facility made me depressed. I tried not to look into any of the holding cells as I walked pass. Not that I really could in the first place. The doors were completely made out of thick steel with only a tiny window slot. The young woman who had sent me the two letters was beside me. Leila. She was a small, young thing. She walked with her back completely erect, but had a surprisingly soft face. It was just beginning to become unbearably silent when she spoke. She had a low, soft voice. It was necessary in a place like this.

" She's been asking for you for a while now, Fire Lord Zuko. I'm glad you came today to see her. I'm sure she will be too," she said with a bright smile. How ironic that she could smile in such a horrid place as this.

" My sister was never one to be happy about anything," I grumbled, crushing the woman's hopes next to me. She frowned visibly. She didn't speak again until we reached Azula's cell.

" She's right in here. I'll go in first, and tell her that you're here. I'll come back out and let you know if you can go in."

She pulled out a huge ring of keys and unlocked seven locks on the cell before going in. She closed the door behind her, so I had no idea what went on inside. A few minutes later, she came back outside with a bright smile on her face once more. " You can go in."

I put my hand on the steel door to open it, but hers came out and rested on my lower arm. I looked swiftly to her. Her eyes were soft and caring.

" Azula is here for a reason, Fire Lord Zuko. She is not in her right state of mind. The slightest thing can set her off. She'll be here for a while. She should be okay, but if anything were to go wrong just press the red button on the wall. Someone will be up here swiftly to restrain her."

I nodded to her and she began to walk away. "Leila! Stop calling me 'Fire Lord Zuko.' Just 'Zuko' is good." She smiled and walked back the way we had come from.

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So here I am. I am unreasonably nervous about this. I mean, would you go into a psychopath's room in an asylum when there is a slight possibility that she may hurt herself- or worse, you- during your visit? No, I didn't think so.

I pluck up enough courage and finally pull the heavy door open. The first thing that registers is the color white. Everything in the damn room is white. The walls, the ceiling, the floor. Then my eyes wander to the one colored thing-rather person- in the room. Azula.

She is lying on a small bed in the far corner of the room. Her feet are curled up to her chest, her thin arms wrapped around her knees under the sheets. Her hair is loose and I can tell that she had made an attempt to brush it out. Her golden eyes have slight dark circles around them. She truly looks like she's lost her mind. I feel sorry for her.

" Hi, Azula," I say softly to her, reminding myself to not sound harsh. She doesn't say anything for a while. I stare at her, trying to avoid her eyes, then she reaches out for me. Her arm is pale and thin as she holds it out for me to take. I take the room in four long strides, and hold her hand in mine while bending down to her level.

" You came," she whispers. _Ugh! She always knew how to make me feel bad about myself._ It was her natural talent. " Leila promised you would," she tells me. She remains tucked under the white-what else is new?-sheet. I vaguely wonder if she is even aware of the days. Does she know that she has been here for five months and sixteen days? Does she know that it took me forty-two days to answer her one request? To see her big brother?

" I'm sorry it took so long," I say to her, because now I am truly sorry.

" It's okay," she says quietly. It is tragically silent, as we both say nothing. I decide to break the quiet with a truly stupid question.

" So how have you been?"

" I'm in an asylum, Zuko." _Yes, definitely stupid. _She is obviously completely aware of the situation she's in. She knows that she's been dubbed as mentally ill, and she knows that she is in an institute. It only make me more curious as to what else she is aware of. And what she's not.

" Right," I say sheepishly.

" How have you been? I can see that you've become Fire Lord," she notices, eyeing my crown piece." _I can see that we are heading into dangerous territory. _

" Yes, I have. We are doing a lot of work to restore balance between the nations," I notify her.

" The Fire Nation will never be the same again," she says slowly, neither jumping for joy at the sound of peace nor screaming at me for destroying our chances of world domination. I nod my head, agreeing with her statement.

" No, it won't. I think it's a change for the better." _I really should stop putting my foot in my mouth._

" Maybe," she answers simply. I am actually beginning to get frustrated with her. She is acting all……un-Azula-like, and it's starting to get slightly creepy. I'm waiting for her to argue with me about my views. It's unbearably silent again, and I fear that we've run out of things to talk about. That's only a little unreasonable seeing as there are about a million questions I'd like to ask her. Most of them are about her mental condition. Why she's crazy.

" Leila says I might get out soon," she says hopefully, noticing the intense quietness.

" _Azula is here for a reason, Fire Lord Zuko. She is not in her right state of mind. The slightest thing can set her off. She'll be here for a while."_

I did not want to crush her dream of being released, so I had to agree with her. "Then I will have to prepare your room at the palace." She smiles at that, and her eyes glaze over slightly. Reminiscing about that old days when she wasn't locked up in a loony house, maybe.

Soon, there is a knock on the metal door, and my head automatically snaps towards the sound. Leila walks in looking apprehensive.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours have just ended."

" I don't want him to leave yet," Azula says loudly, surprising me. Leila smiles at her.

" I know you don't Azula, but Zuko must go now," she repeats calmly. I sigh and pull my hand out of hers, which I had forgotten was there in the first place. I turn to walk out of the room, and am half way there when Azula screams out.

"NO!"

I am completely stunned by her outburst. The whole time we were talking, she barely rose her voice over a whisper. Now she was screaming. It was a tragic sound that echoed through the white room. It was dry and pained…………….much like when I had defeated her at her would-be coronation. Leila looks surprised as well. She snaps out of it quicker than I do. Her hand is on my arm once more. She is trying to get me out of the room. It's obvious that I am the cause for Azula's explosion.

Azula notices Leila trying to guide me through the door as quickly as possible and screams once again. " DON'T LEAVE! DON'T MAKE HIM LEAVE!"

I cringe and make a dash out of the room, despite my sister's protests against it. The huge metal door slams close behind me and I slide down the wall beside it. Her screams pierce through even the thick door and walls. They penetrate my ears and make me sick to my stomach. I feel I could throw up because of her terrible sound. I hold my head in my hands as I watch four burly caretakers rush into her room to restrain her.

I can feel the hot tears sliding down my cheeks as she bangs on the locked door. I imagine her tiny, frail fists pounding on the hard, cold door. What makes it worse is that she is not trying to escape, but trying to get to me.

I can still feel her small hand in my own. How perfectly it fit in mine. I think about how many years we wasted hating each other, and being jealous of each other. Because in reality, despite everything she had done to make my life miserable, she was still my little sister, and I loved her. I don't want to hear the loud cries of misery, pain, and agony in its purest forms.

I wait for Leila to come back out. She looks much older than she is when she returns. Her eyes seem to hold much more tiredness than when I first met her, and she seemed exhausted.

" I'm sorry, Zuko. I thought she would have been alright. I didn't know she was going to have such a strong reaction to you leaving. She was making a lot of progress, but I guess she's not as stable as I make her out to be. I'm sorry," she says, not looking at me once.

I just rise to my feet, trying to think of something sensible to say to her. " It's not your fault. "

She looks up at me when I say that, and nods, trying to reassure herself more than she was trying to reassure me.

" I think it would be best if you didn't visit Azula for some time, Zuko. Obviously, you leaving her has an incredible effect on her mental stability. I have to ask, were you two very close?" I am shocked by her question.

" No," I answer truthfully. " To be honest, we sort of hated each other when we were kids." I sigh in frustration.

" Well, something has changed. She has an emotional attachment to you. That was the most powerful display of emotional distress I've ever seen from a patient towards a family member. She loves you, Zuko." I successfully hold back my tears this time. I turn to leave, not able to hear anymore.

" For what it's worth, I think you're going to make a great Fire Lord. There are many people in here that have gone mad because of the war, Zuko. You're doing the right thing. Do what your heart tells you." _Did everyone have to sound like my uncle?_

I nod and walk away from the large building. My ears are still ringing from Azula's tortured wails, and strangled sobs. And as I board my ship, even as I am miles away, even back at the palace, I can still hear her silent screams.

They beg me to come back. They plead with me to return to her. To hold her weak body against my own stronger one. To never leave her. I'm screaming right along with her.

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**Thank you to all who read this. There is a large part of me that believes in a strong brother/sister relationship. Zuko and Azula are perfect for this kind of plot in my eyes. I do believe that Zuko loves his sister a lot, and vice versa. It's just the way the****y were raised and how they grew up. So, thanks for reading, again. **

**Feedback would greatly appreciated. Feel free to point out any mistakes you may have found. Anything you liked? Hated? OOC? Let me know.**

**Guenivere Chasidy **


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